Masquerade
by Carebeark5
Summary: Lulu and Dante meet at a ball on Valentine's Day.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Valentine's Day

Lulu Spencer smoothed down her red dress as she stood in front of the full length mirror. Tonight was the big Valentine's Day Dance at the Metro Court and just about everyone was going to be there. "Lulu! Come on were gonna be late," she heard her friend Maxie shout from the living room.  
"Alright one second." She answered as she gently pulled the mask down over her face careful not to mess up her hair.

The theme for the night was a Masquerade Ball and she felt like a princess in the beautiful, red, figure hugging dress she had chosen weeks earlier. Her mask was black and gold with little patterns around her eyes, Maxie told her it brought out the colour of her eyes perfectly. "All right I'm ready to go," she said grabbing her coat and purse by the door.

Even though neither of them had a date to the dance they had both wanted to go so they decided to go together. Maxie was constantly reminding her that it was the perfect occasion to meet some hot, single guys but Lulu wasn't really interested. She had been hurt way too many times in the past and wasn't looking forward to getting her heart broken again.

The doors opened before Lulu and Maxie as they stepped inside the Metro Court two men dressed in suits were standing there holding the doors open for all the guests. There were people everywhere, a chocolate fountain was sitting near the doorway along with a tray of fruit. A long table full of food was set up near the back of the room with smaller tables scattered throughout and each guest was given a number as to which table they would be sitting at. The room was decorated in pinks, reds and golds; everything from balloons to streamers hanging from the ceiling. A DJ was playing the hottest tunes and people were already dancing, "Wow they went all out." Maxie said grabbing a glass of champagne from a tray as it went by.

Dante Falconeri walked into the Metro Court with his mother on his arm. He hadn't been looking forward to this but she insisted he go. "Come on baby. You can be my date and who knows maybe you'll meet a nice girl there."  
"Aw Ma, you know I'm not lookin' to meet anyone right now."  
"I know you were hurt honey but don't you think it's time to move on?"

Just as she said that a beautiful girl in a red dress brushed past him, she had long blonde hair that shined under the bright lights in the ballroom.  
"Ah it looks like you already have," Olivia said with a smile as she noticed where her son was looking. "Why don't you go ask her to dance?"  
"I don't know Ma."  
"Get your butt over there now!" Olivia said shoving him in that direction.


	2. Chapter 2

Dante stumbled a little before catching himself, taking a deep breath he crossed the ballroom towards her. God help him, he was nervous. He didn't know why, it wasn't like he had never asked a woman to dance before. Before he reached her a man stepped in front of him, taking her hand in his he led her out to the dance floor. His mom stepped up beside him, "I'm sorry honey."  
"Looks like I missed my chance. That's probably her boyfriend anyways, so I just saved myself a beating."He replied with a laugh.  
"Come on you can dance with your Ma."She said as he took her hand and led her out on the floor.

He knew this was probably for the best since he definitely wasn't ready for any kind of relationship and he had no business leading anyone into thinking he was. He had been telling his mom that much before he spotted her and everything he was saying went out the window.

"Care to dance with your older brother?" Lucky asked as he stopped in front of his little sister.  
"Sure," she said as they headed for the dance floor leaving Maxie who hadn't even noticed she was gone. She was too busy looking out for single guys.  
"Having fun tonight?" he asked with a smile.  
"Yeah, Maxie thinks were both gonna meet some nice, single guys tonight." she said with a laugh as he twirled her around the floor.  
"Well maybe you will."  
"You know I'm not looking to meet anyone."  
"Come on Lu, it's been a while since you and Johnny broke up. Don't you think it's time to move on?"  
"I have moved on. Just cause I'm not with someone new doesn't mean I'm still hung up on him."  
"But maybe the perfect guy is out there waiting for you. Just cause Johnny wasn't the right one doesn't mean he's not out there."

Dante looked at the number on his ticket and matched it to the number on the table, his table was near the dance floor and his mother was seated at the next table over. 'Great,' he thought as he sunk into his seat. 'Now I don't know anyone at my table.' He knew he would be forced to make small talk and pretend to be interested in what ever the other people at his table had to say.  
Loosening his tie just a little he took a sip of the red wine that was served beside each plate when he heard a voice behind him, "Is this seat taken?"  
Turning around he was surprised to see the very woman that he had planned on asking to dance only moments earlier. "No have a seat," he said pulling out the chair beside him as she sat down.  
"Thanks." She told him dropping her purse on the table beside her plate.

"I wonder what their serving at this thing?" Dante said fiddling with the silverware beside his plate.  
"Not sure but I guess we'll find out soon enough." She said as waiters brought out trays of food.  
Placing a tray on their table Dante lifted the lid to see dishes off food that could only be described as inedible at least to him. "What is this stuff?"  
"I think that's frogs legs, that might be caviar and I'm not too sure what the heck that stuff is," she said pointing to the pile of goopy stuff in the next dish.  
"I don't know about you but I'd much rather have a hamburger." He said with a laugh.  
"Oh yeah with a side of fries." She said dropping the lid back onto the plates.

Deciding to eat something later on instead Dante held out his hand, "Care to dance?" he asked with a smile.  
"Love to." She said as he led her onto the floor with a few other couples.  
The band played as he held her close, "He didn't need to see her whole face to know she was beautiful. "Should I worry about someone breaking my kneecaps for dancing with you?" he asked with a grin.  
"Not unless you count my brother," she said pointing to the guy he had seen her with earlier. 'Ah so it's her brother,' he thought to himself.  
"So why did you come with him instead of a date? They must be beating down your door."  
"Actually I came with my friend but she seems to have ditched me for some doctor, go figure."  
"I'd be happy to keep you company the rest of the night." He said as they twirled around the floor.

They spent the rest of the night together talking, dancing and just having a good time. She enjoyed talking to him and he was incredibly easy to talk to for someone she had just met. She found herself telling him a lot about herself but for fun they decided not to tell each other their real names. They agreed to just enjoy the night together and not have to deal with what came next. She wasn't looking for another relationship or attachments at the moment and neither was he. She learned that he had been hurt in the past which was something they had in common.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Can I get you a drink?" he asked as they made their way back to their seats after their second dance of the night.

"Sure I'll have a beer."

"I'll be right back."

When he came back with their drinks he sat down next to her at the table. "So Lulu what do you like to do for fun?" he asked as he handed her the beer.

"Well I like camping, shooting pool and old black and white movies." She said taking a sip. "What about you?"

"Same but I also enjoy watching a good Yankee's game."

"Did you ever play?"

"Yeah in my younger years."

"Really, were you any good?"

"League champs three years running."

"Nice."

"So Lulu what is it that you do?"

"I work at Crimson."

"The Fashion Mag? Well as beautiful as you are you could be one of the models." He said with a small smile.

"Oh smooth."

"I'm telling the truth Lulu."

"And what is it you do?" she asked.

"I'm a Detective at the PCPD, just started there actually."

"Oh you must know my brother then, Lucky Spencer?"

"Yes I've met him," he said thinking back to the beginning of the night when he thought that she and Lucky were together. He had no idea she was his sister but he was definitely glad that was the case.

"Hey you wanna get outta here?" she asked looking around at the rest of the party goers.

"What did you have in mind?" he asked.

"We can go to the game room it's just down the hall. Maybe play a game of pool?"

"Ya that would be great." He said as they got up from their table and left the party.

Once in the game room Dante found the rack on the wall where the pool cues were and grabbed one for himself and handed another one to her. "You better be careful though Lulu I'm really good at shooting pool." He told her as they racked up the balls.

"Im not too bad myself. Why don't I let you break?" she said as she smiled at him.

Dante broke and manged to get two in and then moved to take his second shot. "Your up." He watched as she moved past him and then leaned over the table to take her shot. She also managed to pocket three shots before it was his turn again. 'It looks like I may have met my match,' he thought as he took his next shot. But there was no way he would let her win, no she was going down.

On her next turn though the look on Dante's face was priceless as he watched her sink ball after ball. 'Oh man I'm in trouble.' "You hustled me didn't you?" he said realizing he lost. "Wanna make it two outta three?" He asked not wanting the night to end.


	4. Chapter 4

"Hey you wanna get outta here?" Dante asked once they had put their pool cues back.

"What did you have in mind?" Lulu asked as they headed back towards the party.

"We could get some food at Kelly's." He suggested since neither of them had eaten very much.

"Yeah I could go for some fries."

They took a table over by the window and she sat down across from him as a waitress came by to take their orders. "I'll have a burger and fries and a chocolate milkshake." Lulu said closing the menu. The entire place was decorated for Valentine's Day with red and white streamers and a cardboard Cupid holding a bow and arrow. There were also candles at each of the tables.

"I'll have the same." He told the waitress as she left them alone. "I have to say I like a girl with an appetite."

"Most men don't feel that way."

"Well I'm Italian and we like to eat."

When the food came they talked easily, about anything and everything. He had never felt this at ease around a woman.

Lulu couldn't remember the last time she felt this comfortable around a guy in her life. Most guys seemed to be intimidated by her. "So what are you doing all alone on Valentines Day?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

"Uh, uh, uh I asked you first." She said with a laugh.

"Well I just moved here and I don't know many people yet." He answered.

"What about back home?"

"No one special. Now you."

"Same with me, no one special." She said not really wanting to elaborate any further than that. Her love life had never been great.

She reached over and grabbed a French fry off his plate, "Hey you have your own." He said with a laugh.

"Yours taste better." She joked.

The bells above the door jingled and LuLu glanced up to see Johnny walk into the diner. 'Oh god what's he doing here.' She thought to herself. He spotted her and made his way over with a smile on his face. So much for hoping he wouldn't seeing her.

"Hey Lulu who's your friend."

She looked up at Dante, "Just ignore him."

"Aw come on is that any way to treat a friend."

"We aren't friends."

"It seems to me that Lulu doesn't want you around, Johnny was it?" Dante said to the guy.

"And you are?"

"Dante Falconeri."

"What are you her protector?"

He stood up from the table, facing the guy. "So what if I am?"

"Maybe we should take this outside?" Johnny said with a smirk.

"No stop this I don't want the two of you fighting over me." She said rising from the table. "Dante I was having a great time before he showed up, hopefully I'll see you around." She said and she left before he could even try to stop her. Leaving a stunned Dante and Johhny alone at the table.


End file.
